This application is A 371 of PCT/SE99/00863 May 20, 1999.
The present invention pertains to the compilation of a constructed xe2x80x9clanguagexe2x80x9d concerning a signifying visual guidance system for use with traffic environments.
In the construction of road illuminating lamps, attention has been primarily directed towards designing the lamps so that the road concerned will be effectively illuminated to the best possible extent, such that energy and maintenance costs can be kept as low as possible, while the poles or posts carrying the lamps are designed to cause as little damage as possible in the event of a vehicle colliding with a lamp post, or to provide a lamp post that has a particularly attractive architectural appearance.
The present invention is directed more specifically to the information that can be given to a road user, for example through the medium of road lamps, lamp posts, etc., and not solely by illumination of the road or street. If the road user is able to glean further information concerning the manner in which the road space continues through the configuration of the lamp or the lamp post, then this can only lead to improved traffic safety.
The invention is accordingly based on the concept of a semiotic method of clarifying street and road sections based on the systematic of utilising the non-verbal sign systems xe2x80x9clamp languagexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ccolour languagexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpost languagexe2x80x9d to clarify traffic space and therewith enhance traffic safety.
The distinguishing features utilised in the significative expressions may, for instance, be the lamp (its design, placement, the numbers in which it is present, etc.), the colour of the light and the lamp posts or poles (their form, length, colour, construction, and possibly supplementary xe2x80x9csignalsxe2x80x9d).
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide An illuminating and guidance system for traffic environments, in which lamp posts and/or lamps are designed so that they can also provide information about the extension of the road and also particular traffic environments that the road user should be aware of.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a road lamp which will provide optical guidance through the medium of the significative illuminating lamp in addition to illuminating the extension of the roadway and possibly also particularly critical points in the traffic environment.